The
Crystal Palace
Foundation

By Croydon Advertiser

Since 1869 the Croydon Advertiser has faithfully recorded the changing shape and times of the town through our news pages. Often the passage of time has swept away memories of those days. But our photographs continue to provide an intriguing, fascinating and sometimes amusing record of those times. Recently, we have been running a series of old pictures, captured on glass photographic plates, entitled Yesterday Once More. The series has proved to be extremely popular with readers and we have been able to produce reprints of some of our best photographs.

In this book we have looked at Yesterday Once More and concentrated upon one era of Croydon life: the years immediately prior to the Second World War and the early weeks of the Phoney War itself. It was a time that cap­tured a lot of excitement and hope. But it also became quickly foreshadowed by the advent of war.

Our photographers captured the spirit of adventure when Croydon's airport was still a major force in aviation history. We were there when Amy Johnson landed and we were there again when two Japanese fliers were feted for their epic air journey. But within a few years Amy Johnson had died in a crash and the Japanese Air Force had become our enemy.

Our cameramen also recorded the tragic aftermath of the Crystal Palace fire when the flames twisted and wrecked a major tourist attraction and landmark. But we also recorded the smiles and faces of people at Purley Swimming Pool: again a now-vanished piece of local history. And when war was declared our photographers were again on hand to record the emotional scenes as emotional scenes as children were evacuated to avoid the bombing raids.

Those times are all recaptured and faithfully recaptured and faithfully reprinted, Yesterday Once More.

41 landscape photographs of Croydon and district and the Crystal Palace   

PLEASE NOTE: All the copies have been purchased from high-class antique book dealers and are therefore of good quality. Second hand books are however subject to the usual problems - light foxing and / or lightly stained pages, loose or missing spines and the page edges, etc may not be perfect. Where available the jackets may not be perfect (and we may not have any in stock with a jacket). The pages are always fully secure. The best available copy of the book will always be sent.